Rachael Parsons: Illustrator

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

'The Road'

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

‘Journey’s End’

Fear: ‘Death in different cultures'

WARNING - these were commisssions, the subject choice was given to me! - I love life :) ...I promise I am not morbid! - Really

These two illustrations (abovy and belowy) are related to one general shared belief within most cultures. The greatly shared belief is one of fear towards the dead, and a wanting to make sure that the spirits stay in the next world, safely away from the living. Most feared they could catch death and so made sure that the dead would not want to return by burying/providing them with their possessions, so as to stop them from returning for them.

Another belief I have factored in (only slightly) is that of the Tsimshian Indian people. Their belief is that the world is like a big box in which all the souls start and end. Inside this box, they make reference to other smaller boxes contained inside – (houses), in which the living enter through the front and sides, and the dead through the back. But their souls leave through the ‘smoke hole’ – or Chimney. This is a little metaphor I really liked, so vaguely included, with the sense of my figure rising up through the ‘smoke hole’ and the ‘house’ text directly below.

Sayanora lengua

‘Language’ - This pic is similar to ‘Journey’s End’. But...In some cultures, after a death, people would not speak the name of the dead, and in some extreme cases the name is completely dropped from the language. Most believed that speaking the name of the dead might anger them or call them back.